The Duke Who Lived Underground With 15 Miles of Tunnels

William Cavendish-Scott-Bentinck, the 5th Duke of Portland, who lived from 1800 to 1879, was famously private. At his estate Welbeck Abbey in Nottinghamshire, he had a network of 15 miles of tunnels built. They included a huge ballroom that could hold 2,000 people but was never used, and an underground library. He never met visitors face to face. Servants had to communicate with him through a letterbox in his door, and he ordered a roast chicken to be sent to him on a heated cart through the tunnels. When he rode outside, workmen had to build screens so no one could see him.